


Freakshow

by Grahm_Crackle



Series: Scarlet wings [1]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: AU, Circus, Circus freak, Creatures, Escapes, F/M, Learning to Fly, Winged creatures, Wings, another realm, bat wings, carmen has wings, circus escape, curcus au, first fic, what even is this?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21830098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grahm_Crackle/pseuds/Grahm_Crackle
Summary: graham's father decided to take his new step-son to the circus.  But Graham sees a girl with wings locked up, and decides to free her, and help her return to the island where she's from.
Relationships: Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep/Gray | Crackle
Series: Scarlet wings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573009
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	1. chapter one

Graham walked with his step-father through the circus. He didn’t want to be here, he just wanted his real father back, not to bond with this fake. The shouting was far too loud anyway.  
“Come one come all, see the red demon!” A man shouted.  
“Do you wanna do that?” Suhara asked.   
He shrugged, and they stepped inside the tent. Graham expected to see some bones that could belong to a monster. Or some kind of horned man, but either way it was fake. But what he saw shocked and disgusted him. There was a large cage, and inside what he first thought was a woman. She seemed normal, graham wondered what she would do. A man in a polo shirt and khaki pants pushed a hot fireplace poker between the bars, jabbing the girls arm.  
She shot upright, yelling in pain. She scrambled back, revealing horns on her head and large bat wings springing from her shoulder blades. They were black with red veins running through them, and graham suddenly understood the name. The people in the tent clapped.  
“See this being of hellfire and the underworld,” the announcer said from outside.   
Graham found her beautiful despite her abnormalities. She was truly pretty. She had long hair, and was his age. She was dressed in rags, but it didn’t take away from her beauty. She seemed to notice the people staring at her and backed into a corner, curling her wings around herself. He suddenly felt bad for the creature as he heard her crying. He pushed fast a family of gaping children to press his hands against the bars of her cage.   
“Hey. It’s ok.” he said before he could think. “It’s ok.”   
She seemed to hear him over the jeering families. He Noticed her slowly lower one of her wings, and they locked eyes. He stared into the pale purple eyes, filled with tears.  
“It’s ok.” he repeated, not knowing why. He wanted her to be happy, he wanted her not to be crying in a cage.   
She lower her wing a bit more, before deciding to pull them close to her back. A few people gasped and even laughed. Her wing twitched like she was deciding if or if not to hide again.   
“No, no, no, no, no. It’s ok.” Graham said, and she seemed to calm down.  
He kept whispering honeyed statements as she seemed to calm down, wiping away her tears. He stopped when he saw her begin to half-walk half-crawl toward him. Her wings were twitching as she moved slowly but steadily towards him. Graham and the creature ignored the gasps, shouts, and laughs of people. He saw that there were still tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. She slowly put her hand up, palm open and fingers extended. He reacted to the motion by putting his palm against hers. She breathed out, finally seemed at peace.   
Suddenly the man in the polo shirt pulled her back by the wings, throwing her against the back wall.   
“Don’t touch her. She might possess you.” he said in a theatrical voice.   
“We need to go.” Graham said, disgusted with the man “I can’t look at the way they treat her.”  
He couldn’t help but feel bad, looking at the face of the creature, her forlorn expressing as she extended a hand toward the only friendly face she’d ever known. 

Graham didn’t know what he was doing.   
In all honesty he didn’t know why he was doing it either.   
He just had to see her one more time before they took her away. The circus was moving out the next morning, and everything was packed up. But, he wants to see the creature (who he had began to call Red) before he took her. To give her hope.   
He snuck around the cages with tigers and the carriages until he spotted one with a veil over it labeled ‘red demon’. He walked over, and pushed the veil aside. She looked like she was asleep in a bed of hay.   
“Hey!”   
She shot upright, looking around. She was scared.  
“It’s just me.” he whispered.   
She recognized him, and seemed to become a bit more serene.   
“Can you talk?” he asked.   
“Yes.” she said.   
“How old are you? What are you?” he asked, curious.   
“They tell me that I’m fourteen.” she whispered, “I’m a nightcrawler. I was born in another dimension. I wandered into this one.”   
“Wow!” he said, “do you have a name?”   
She shook her head.   
“It’s ok. Mine’s graham.” he said.   
She smiled and lifted a wing, and he gasped, looking at the connection to her back. There were electric burns all over it.   
“They shock you?” he said, sadly.   
“When i try to talk in front of people.” she said, sniffling.   
“Does it hurt?” he asked.   
She nodded, touching one of the scars. “I don’t like to talk about it.” She shivered.   
“You’re cold.” he said.   
“I’m used to it.”   
He shrugged off his jacket, and pushed it through the bars of her cage. “Keep it.”  
“Thank you.” she whispered. She folded her wings close to her back, and pulled the jacket on over them.   
He turned.   
“Don’t leave!” she cried out.   
He walked to the entrance to the cage and spotted the lock.   
“I’m gonna get you out.”


	2. chapter 2

Graham jiggled the lock, trying to get it loose.   
“Try picking the lock.” she whispered.   
Graham nodded. Trying to force it wasn’t working. He looked around, and spotted a paperclip on the ground. He inserted it into the lock, and jiggled it around.   
“How do you do this?” he asked.   
“I don’t know.” she said.   
He jiggled it a bit more, and the padlock snapped open. He removed it from the door, tossing it aside. He swung the door open.   
“Come on!” he said.  
The girl scrambled out of her cage, her wings twitching with anticipation.   
“Can you fly?” he asked.  
“No.” she whispered, “if I ever could, I forgot a long time ago.”   
“Do you think you can?” he asked.   
“I don’t know. I’ve been in that cage since I was five.” she replied, “If I’m going to learn it will take time.”   
He nodded. “You said you were from another realm. What was it like there?”   
“I don’t know. That’s what they told me.” she said.   
“What should I call you?” he asked.   
“Again, I don’t have a name. They didn’t give me one.” she hissed.   
“What about…” he paused looking around. He spotted an abandoned booklet for the opera carmen. Someone must have had it in their bag and dropped it, but he smiled. “What about Carmen?”  
“I like it.” she answered.   
“Follow me.” He said, and they started running together.   
“Stop right there!” a voice shouted.   
A muscled woman stepped in front of them, holding a stick.   
Carmen flared out her wings, using one to push Graham behind her.   
“Brunt, just let me go.” she snapped.  
“Why would I do that?” Brunt replied angrily, “this is the only place for you. Out there, people will-”   
“Don’t give her that!” Graham pushed past her wing. “You’re hurting her here.”   
“Did you let her out?” brunt asked.   
“He didn’t. I found him.” Carmen lied through gritted teeth.   
“Please, little bat. You belong here.” brunt said, “it’s the only place you belong.”   
“I don’t want to be here!” she shouted, “if I’m really from another world, I want to be there!”  
Brunt sighed. “I hoped you’d be nice about this.”   
With that she grabbed carmen’s arm, dragging her by the wrist.   
“Let go of her!” Gray yelled, diving for Brunt’s hand. He kicked it, distracting her enough for Carmen to pull free and dive away, curning her wings around herself as she landed.   
“Come on! RUN!” Carmen shouted, taking off running with Graham close behind her. She knew that they were small and fast, and Brunt couldn’t hurt what she couldn’t catch. The two kept running until they were sure that they lost her.   
“Come on.” graham said, once he was sure they were in the clear.   
“Where are we going?” Carmen asked, stretching her wings.  
“To my house.” he said, “can I-”   
“Yes.” she cut him off.   
He gently put a hand on her wing, feeling the smooth skin. “They’re beautiful.”   
“Thank you? I guess.” she said, shrugging.   
He continued walking down the roads that he knew took him to his house. He’d snuck out. He wondered how his parents would react to him sneaking out.   
And yeah, the bat-girl he brought home.   
She was looking around curiously as he walked down his street.   
“I live there.” he pointed to his house.   
“It’s huge!” she said joyfully.   
He didn’t think it was huge. Two stories with three bathrooms, one connected to his parent’s bedroom. His room was nice, but nothing unusual. But, he supposed, even an apartment must seem huge to someone who had lived in a cage most of their life. He walked to the door, and rang the doorbell, biting the inside of his cheek.   
The door swung open, and his mother pulled him into a hug. She then let go of him, and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Where were you!”   
She was tall and had brown hair like him. She had pale blue eyes, and told Graham that he had his father’s eyes. She had decided to marry Suhara after his father had died. He liked his dad and didn't get along with Suhara very much.   
“I’m sorry mom!” he said.   
“Why did you sneak out!” she asked sternly.   
“Because I didn’t want them to hurt Carmen anymore.” he said, before remembering to break the news lightly.   
His mother’s eyes snapped up, spotting Carmen, who was hiding behind her wings again.   
“Who- what- where?!” she stuttered, and Carmen flinched.   
“She was from the circus I went to with Suhara. They were hurting her. A lot! She was scared and was locked in a cage and-”  
“It’s all an act!” his mother said, trying to calm him down.   
“No! Look!” he shouted, pointing to the burn scars.   
His mother noticed, and also spotted the burn from the poker on her upper arm. She gasped. “Come in.”   
She stepped aside, and Graham took Carmen’s hand gently, guiding her inside.   
“Where’s Suhara?” Graham asked.   
“At the police station.” His mother said.   
She sat Carmen down on the couch, and ran to get medical supplies, all the while, dialing suhara and tell him everything was alright.   
Carmen was shivvering and obviously afraid.   
“She’d not like that most of the time.” Graham said.   
“Don’t make me go back to them,” Carmen said, whimpering.   
“What?” he asked.   
“Whenever I tried to run away, they called the police.” She said. “They’d tell them that I was treated well, and was crazy.”   
He sighed. “It’s going to be ok. I won’t let them have you.” he said.   
It didn’t seem to help. She was still afraid.   
After a few moments, his mother walked back inside, holding gauze, medical tape and ointment.   
“Can I help your arm?” she asked, “it might hurt a bit, but it will be ok.”   
Carmen put her arm out, and Graham’s mother started. Her arm was scarred up pretty bad as well. The wound was deep. It was obvious they’d jabbed her in the same spot many times.   
“Graham, can your get her some water?” She asked. And he nodded, running off to the kitchen.   
She began to spread some of the burn ointment onto the gauze, and then wrap Carmen’s arm. She was doing her best to do it slowly as not to make it worse.   
“So, is he telling the truth?” she asked.   
“Yes. He is. They hurt me. Often.” Carmen whimpered.   
“It’s OK. you do not have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” she said. “He called your Carmen, right?”  
Carmen nodded.   
“My name’s Andy.” she said, finishing the wrap and taping the gauze in place.   
Graham returned with the water and a PB&J sandwich. He passed them to Carmen. She ignored the water, taking a huge bite of the sandwich.   
“This is really good.” she thanked him. Once she was finished devouring it, she took a gulp of the water.   
“Graham, why don’t you show her around a bit. I’m going to go find some of my old clothes.” she said.   
Graham nodded, knowing that anything his mom had would probably be more comfortable them the rags Carmen wore right now. He took her by the hand, leading her around the house, pointing out the rooms. She seemed to be in awe of everything.   
Andy returned a few minutes later, finding the two in the living room.   
“Carmen,” she said, “I found some of my old clothes that might fit you. They’ll be more comfortable then what your have on now, and it’s too late to go shopping.”   
Carmen nodded, and Andy led her to the guest room.   
“You know what, if your want, your can take a shower first,” Andy said.   
Carmen looked at her, and nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

Carmen had showered and got dressed in Andy’s old tank top and jeans. Suhara was home, and had given Graham the tongue-lashing of the century before sending him to bed. Carmen was asleep in the guest room, leaving Andy and Suhara to talk.   
“I saw them burn her. I thought it was some kind of stunt,” Suhara mumbled. “I feel awful for not doing something”  
“Your had no way of knowing.” Andy sighed. “We can’t send her back.”   
“Well what are we supposed to do then?” Suhara asked, “I agree with you, but her wings are-”  
“Noticeable?” Andy finished.   
“We should talk to someone,” Suhara said, “they need to be shut down.”   
“What if they make something up?” Andy said, “Graham said that they were lying to the police about her.”   
“This is a train wreck.” Suhara groaned.   
“I know that honey. Maybe we could take care of her?” She said, “many people have deformities, and now I’m not saying that that’s what’s wrong with her, but there’s no other word I can think of!”   
“Calm down. We’re not going to get anywhere if we’re freaking out.” Suhara said.   
“I wonder if she can fly?” Andy said.   
“I don’t know.” Suhara said.   
“For now, we should just take care of her.” Andy said, “it’s summer vacation anyway.”   
Suhara nodded. “Tomorrow we can go shopping for anything she needs.”   
Andy bit her fingernail, “I can do that. You should spend some time with the two of them. Figure out what she needs and what we should do with her.”   
⤂⤋⤃  
Suhara was eating breakfast silently the next morning after Andy left. Graham was taking a shower, and Carmen was still asleep.   
Why did his past have to come back to bite him like this?  
He had wanted to leave his sins behind when he married Andy, not have the result of them show up.   
Years ago, he had fallen out with his brother and fallen in with the wrong types. He eventually became one of the higher-ups in the criminal empire. He found out that one of the other higher-ups was doing human experiments, and he went to see.   
He’d seen something he wished he could unsee. There were people in cages, with their bodies messed up. IT was disgusting. And the woman was holding a young one in her arms. She had horns and wings like a bat. The woman had explained to him that she was a failure, because she had been meant to have a bird’s wings. That she was going to kill the little one, but she assured that she’s likely die soon anyways. He offered to give her to a good home instead of making the scientist kill her. She accepted, and he gave her to a trusted friend, who said that he’d eventually given her away as well.   
He knew that Carmen was the little girl, bat wings, the skin tone and the eyes confirmed it. He realized that the scientist had lied. She wasn’t going to die soon.  
“Sunhara?”   
He snapped out of his thoughts when his son called his name, walking into the kitchen. 

“Yeah, son.”   
Graham flinched. “What are we gonna do today?” he asked.   
“We’ll wait for Carmen to wake up.” Suhara said.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first story. I enjoyed writing it, and there will be more chapters. I hope you enjoy it. If you notice anything wrong, please review and tell me.


End file.
